Brothers accused of hindering arrest of fugitive

Published 6:29 am, Thursday, February 27, 2014

The brothers of a fugitive accused of burglarizing 12 northwest Harris County homes are facing charges after deputies say they tried to hinder their brother’s arrest.

Alex Talbot, 24, and Eric Day, 38, have been charged with hindering apprehension of a fugitive.

It all started in early February when deputies identified Preston Talbot, 22, as a suspect in a five-day crime spree. Investigators believe Talbot may have burglarized up to a dozen different garages in the Northampton subdivision. Talbot was charged in two of the burglaries after a deputy identified him in a surveillance video at one of the residences and at local pawn shops exchanging stolen property, said Assistant Chief Mark Herman.

On Feb. 4, when deputies arrived to arrest Talbot, he fled, said Herman.

“We’d been looking for a few days when the Inspector General’s office contacted us,” he said

Herman said the Inspector General’s Office turned over 34 recorded phone conversations from the Brazos County jail between Talbot’s brother, Alex Talbot and his father, Lynn Talbot, who is a prisoner at the jail.

“Basically we have a tape recording of them scheming to get [Preston Talbot] out of town before we arrested him,” said Herman.

In one of the conversations, court records state Talbot told his father he had picked up his brother Feb. 4 while officers searched for him so they could purchase narcotics. In another one, court records show Lynn Talbot instructed Alex Talbot to take Preston to a $35,000 a year rehabilitation center, where he will have “amnesty.”

“With the information we received from the Inspector General’s office, our department was able to coordinate with the US Marshal’s office in south Texas, and when Preston Talbot was released from the rehab, Marshals were waiting to arrest him,” said Herman.

Authorities also contacted Eric Day, 38, who told police he and Alex Talbot had dropped Preston Talbot off at a facility in Harlingen, in South Texas.

Both men were charged and released on non-arrest bonds of $5,000. Constable deputies are also seeking charges against the father, Lynn Talbot.